Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
A group under the body of Okun Progressive Alliance yesterday expressed displeasure over the antics of Senator Dino Melaye, saying his representation negates what Okun people are known for.
The group in a statement jointly signed by its President, Ben Alege, and Secretary, Adeniyi Oloruntoba, noted that Melaye has been in the news for all sorts of reasons that are unflattering to the Okun people.
The group stressed that in every position of responsibility, the true and proper Okun person anchors his/her actions and activities on sincerity, selflessness, resourcefulness, fairness, justice, credibility, honour and humility.
The group lamented that in contrast with time-tested and serially-proven enviable characteristics of a bona-fide Okun person like Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Senator Smart Adeyemi, Sam Aro, Sunday Karimi, TJ Yusuf among others, “one recalls with great pain and regret, how the serving senator set record as the first parliamentarian in the Fourth Republic to be disgraced and hounded out of the green chamber.
“Indeed, it is appalling enough that many have refused to see how so many clowns, charlatans and people of questionable character rode on the back of Muhammadu Buhari and the sing-song of ‘change’ to get into positions where they now remain the biggest, perfidious obstacles to genuine change in Nigeria. Painfully, this distinguished beneficiary of this wholesales gift has now brought collateral damage to Okunland, Kogi State and Nigeria.
“More worrisome is the fact that in the same National Assembly where Melaye chastises Okun people with loud theatrical outings, heart-breaking representation, a brash core that negates all what we are known for, Okunland has had between 1999 and now level-headed people who represented our senatorial district and two federal constituencies creditably.â€
The group affirmed that Nigeria’s democracy was no doubt suffering in terms of the quality representation, adding that it was the responsibility of all constituents to ensure an improvement in coming elections.
The group stressed: “His aggressive and needlessly combative disposition towards our state Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, his council chairman and even, the ‘change’ that his party promises is beyond description.
“At the moment, we hereby appeal to Nigerians and more importantly, media organisations not to judge the good people of Okunland by the antics and theatrics of Dino Melaye.
“We like to reiterate that unusual traits and every dysfunctional tendency perceived in Melaye are completely alien to that of an Okun person,†the group stated.
